Of Squibs and Wizards
by Titania Malfoy Snape
Summary: He’s not a really handsome boy. His nose is too big for his face for one thing and he is tall! Tall and skinny momma started fretting about that almost at once then dragged him to the kitchen and had the cook serve him a bowl of pasta. I don’t thin
1. Default Chapter

A Snape/OFC fic—please oh please let me know if she starts turning into a Mary Sue (ick!), for it is not my intention to write a Mary Sue (I will save that for a parody I have in mind). I hope that you will like Mia Antonia Marvolo and the American branch of that family. I also hope that you think that I have personified our beloved Potions master well. I have been re-reading the canon and trying to analyze the man behind the cauldron and I think that I understand him a little better. I hope you agree (if not let me know-but no flames!)  
  
The characters that you recognize from the canon are the property of JK Rowling, as is the Harry Potter series of novels, merchandise etc. The character of Mia Marvolo and her family are my creative propertyinspired by the character of Tom Marvolo Riddle. I am making no money from this story.  
  
Of Squibs and Wizards  
Summer 1970  
  
1970 Thursday  
  
Well Antony has brought home a friend from Hogwarts. Without getting daddy's permission of course! I swear if I could get away with half of what Antony manages to get away with! Antony says that he is a fellow house mate and that his parents are nasty creatures so anyway his name is Severus Snape and he is to spend the summer with us.  
  
He seems nice enough, well polite anyway. He doesn't talk much, he just stares-watches us all. His eyes are constantly moving-it's spooky really. I don't think he likes me at all, of course most of the people I know don't like me but they are frightened enough of daddy to not show it in his presence. Daddy is very sensitive of my defect-so is the rest of the family in fact. They all treat me like I'm some fragile thing.  
  
Back to the topic! Severus Snape-what an odd name. He's not a really handsome boy. His nose is too big for his face for one thing and he is tall! Tall and skinny momma started fretting about that almost at once then dragged him to the kitchen and had the cook serve him a bowl of pasta. I don't think he appreciated that very much, but he ate it anyway. At least he has good manners!  
  
He has nice eyes though-they are so dark and they glitter when the light hits them just so and he has this marvelous pale skin! But the hair! And the clothes! I can see why Antony brought him home. Daddy says he looks like a stray.  
  
Some stray! A Snape! Antony is taking Severus out on the boat tomorrow, they are to fish Lake Ponchartrain and he is hoping to bring home dinner! Antony is such a boy! Severus looks like the last thing he'd rather do is fish, but he is too polite to say so. It seems that British manners are similar to Southern manners.  
  
Sunday  
  
Well our guest certainly didn't know what to make of the Mass. Daddy had me sit next to him as Antony was serving as alter boy this week, and I have to say that I know he doesn't like me. Then again Antony, although he says I am his favorite sister, says I am a corvée. Well I am only nine!  
  
Still he was polite enough through it all, and he seemed to enjoy lunch afterwards. Now he and Antony are off exploring the French Quarter. Antony said something about going to see Mister Blackwell and this potion that he has recently invented.  
  
I am to stay home today and study my French. Daddy told me yesterday that I had been accepted at St. Anne's up in South Carolina! I can't believe that he is letting me go away to school!  
  
Daddy says that it's a Muggle school and that it's really the best place for me. The nuns will look after me and I should get a good education there. I still can't believe it! I am so excited! No one there will know I am defective, that my family is magical, only that I am an ordinary girl. Maybe I will make a few friends!  
  
Sunday  
  
I can't believe that the summer is almost over! Only two more weeks until I go off to school and Antony and Severus return to Hogwarts! I have my things ready and packed and now all I have to do is wait. I know that the time is going to crawl by!  
  
I have taken to hiding in the library recently as Antony's friends have become a regular part of the household these days-as usual. My sister Gina just celebrated her sweet sixteen and so there was a party last night. I hate parties! I had to go too, daddy made me.  
  
He doesn't understand me. No one does. How can they? I am the only one in my entire family like this. I can't wait for school to start.  
  
Severus has warmed up to us all a bit. I think he actually smiled at me last night when I made my appearance downstairs. I'm not sure though, maybe it was a frown. It was too fast across his face for me to make out.  
  
We both eventually ended up in a corner-he on one side of the room, I on the other, watching the party from the shadows. I prefer this, no one pays attention to me. I think that he prefers it as well. He certainly isn't as outgoing as Antony, but then I am more quite than my sisters are. It's not hard since I am the youngest in the family and four older sisters together can be awfully loud. I just wish they'd stop treating me like a baby!  
  
So anyway, Severus spent almost the entire party against a wall. Except for the few dances he was obliged to take-all of them with my pest sisters too. He didn't look happy, his eyes weren't flashing. I have watched him enough to tell that he expresses himself with his eyes, they flash when he is happy and are dull when he isn't. The look on his face was polite, but his eyes were dull. Poor Severus! I don't think that the British start the whole courtship thing at the age of twelve. I wonder if Antony explained this to him.  
  
I suppose that next summer, when I return home, mom will sit me down and begin to teach me how to be a lady. It always starts at the age of ten. Lessons on etiquette, behavior and posture. I've heard enough of it from my sisters over the years, Gina most recently and now that she is sixteen and has had her party the boy can start courting her. Yuk. Boys! I guess that means that the Pierre the Pest will come and visit more often. I am so happy that I am going away. I hate Pierre!  
  
Saturday  
  
Tomorrow I leave for St. Anne's. Severus and Antony left today. I am sorry he is gone. Antony is so nice to me when he isn't ignoring me. Severus looked sorry to go too, he's put on a bit of weight and mom seemed satisfied with his appearance.  
  
They went shopping a few days ago, for their school things and Severus came back with a couple of nice looking robes. I over heard daddy telling mom that he thought Severus was abused at home. How awful. And that he was going to see to it that Severus started the year off with some proper robes and not those hand me downs that he wore. Mom said that Severus would be too proud to accept the gesture seeing as an act of charity so maybe daddy could let her handle the situation.  
  
Mom is so clever! Severus has his new robes, he couldn't refuse after mom told him it was a tradition for a hosting family to give a farewell gift to departing company. I would have never thought of putting it like that. I know that mom will probably send Severus some things in Antony's care packages too, I think that's nice. He seems to have grown on us this summer and daddy has formally invited him back for the next.  
  
As for me. Well I have a new haircut, not much of one, but a haircut. Mom and I have been practicing braiding my hair and I have gotten good at it. I hate my hair, I wish I were a blonde instead of having this black stuff!  
  
When I was brushing me teeth a few minutes ago, I really looked at myself in the mirror. I don't look any different, but I feel different. I still have my green eyes (from grandmother) and my skin is tanned (thanks to my reading in the back yard all summer). I look like my mom, and she is pretty. I overheard Gina telling mom that it was too bad I was defective, I could have gotten myself a handsome man like Pierre otherwise. The only thing that kept me from crying was the fact that mom scolded Gina for her saying I was defective.  
  
Just because it's true doesn't mean that I doesn't hurt to hear it from your own sister. Besides I hate Pierre the Pest! 


	2. Chapter Two

Of Squibs and Wizards  
Chapter Two  
Plus la Change, Plus la Meme Chose  
  
I hate Albus Dumbledore and my father sometimes and this is one of those times. They are, bless their dear hearts, manipulating bastards!  
  
"Go visit Albus daughter," my daddy tells me (ha! Orders me!) "You need the rest and he needs a Muggle Studies professor, the change will do you good. It's time you settled down anyway with al this wandering the planet"  
  
Manipulating old bastards the both of them!  
  
Imagine my surprise when I see, for the first time in years, one Severus Snape! Potions master and professor here to boot!  
  
Totally ruined my appetite, he has. And Albus' innocent act! Innocent my ass!  
  
"I didn't know the two of you were acquainted," he says with a surprised expression. Yea, right and I'm Mother Theresa!  
  
He was as brooding as I remember him, no check that, brooding is too romantic sounding. Lets see-yes, he is still an anti-social prick. That's so much more accurate a description of the man.  
  
I tried to be polite, to make polite conversation. Mom would have been proud, after all once civility is lost what is there. Does he reciprocate? No indeed! Was he born in a barn? All I got to my polite inquiries after his health and well- being were thinly veiled hostile answers!  
  
As if I were the one who betrayed the family's trust and love!  
  
Prick.  
  
Dinner was worse! Albus got it in his head that we should sit next to each other! Heaven forbid. Severus looked so thrilled to be sitting next to me and he didn't even bother to try to make polite conversation. I shouldn't have been surprised. He was never a conversationalist in public, but it is my first night here after all and he could have made some sort of effort!  
  
Maybe he feels guilty about Antony.  
  
Right and I was Queen Rex in my eighteenth year!  
  
Now, I am being unfair, and I have promised myself that I will be descriptive and true in my journaling of this year at Hogwarts.  
  
Dinner was fab! The house elves trained excellently and the food done to a turn. I didn't think that they would be able to master Crayfish Bisque, but they did. I must say that it was very polite of Albus to make my first meal at Hogwarts a traditional New Orleans supper!  
  
The main course of Blackened Red Fish was perfect and the Crème Brule was spot on, as they say. The dining room was cozy, but nothing like the Great Hall or so Minerva McGonagall says. It's where I shall take my meals during term, I am told.  
  
Minerva and Albus exchanged many glances throughout the meal and I suspect that they have a thing going on. Scary. I mean, Uncle Albus and a woman- it's like finding out that your parents still have sex-eew!  
  
Back to the meal. Tried to be polite to Severus, even though he was responsible for more than one broken heart in my family, but was rebuffed. Fine then, I made conversation with the other guests.  
  
Harry Potter and Hermione Granger being two of those guests.  
  
Of course I have heard of Harry Potter-I have been traveling to out of the way places these last ten years, but I keep up with the world!  
  
Pleasant boy, nice but really frighteningly intelligent girl. The Dark Lord shouldn't last too long against these two.  
  
Dark spot number two on the evening was-how did Miss Granger put it? Oh yes, she exclaimed, "Holy cricket! You're Mia!"  
  
Duh.  
  
"Oh my Gods! My dad and I love your music!"  
  
Oh goody. So much for the whole drop out of society and they will forget about you bit. I then had to put up with Miss Granger's educating the rest of the table (except for Harry) about my time as a singer with a rather (I say this in all modesty) popular band The Vampire Lestat.  
  
So I was taught to play the guitar, and in the course of my trying to find myself I played with the group. Big deal. The money was great and Lestat was charming. I quit after two years, I prefer being unknown.  
  
It was fun while it lasted, but it was just a something to do at the time. Okay so the whole Akasha thing was a bummer, but Hell! I'm just glad that I didn't take Lestat up on his offer, tempting as it was.  
  
I digress.  
  
After gently dropping hints to Miss Granger that I really didn't want to talk about that phase of my life, and ignoring Severus' raised eyebrow (some things never change!), dinner progressed nicely. Until it was time for cognac.  
  
Severus hates cognac. Albus loves the stuff, so of course daddy sent a bottle of his best along with me.  
  
Severus had coffee (I wonder if his mouth got burnt as fast as he drank it!) then excused himself for the evening.  
  
This of course gave Albus leave to ask the questions he had been dying to ask all evening.  
  
As if he didn't already know the answers!  
  
I politely refused to play into his hands by being purposely dense and after a few minutes feigned exhaustion and excused myself.  
  
So, here I sit. Setting this to paper and not knowing what to think.  
  
I never thought I'd see him again after that summer. 


	3. Chapter Three

Of Squibs and Wizards  
Chapter Three  
Summer 1971  
  
Friday evening  
  
Well, it's my first day home for the summer and tomorrow Antony and Severus will be here for their summer break.  
  
I wonder what this summer will bring. As I am ten now, mom has decided that it is time for me to start my lessons on how to be a proper young lady. I don't know why this whole courtship thing is so important. I hate boys as it is.  
  
Gina hinted in her last letter to me, that mom was already considering a match for me. Gina has been dating Pierre for over a year now and they are expecting a formal proposal. Gina said that she couldn't wait to marry Pierre. I don't understand her.  
  
I am too excited to sleep, and here I thought that I would miss school more than I do. Oh, I love my school! At first I missed being home, but then I made some friends and the lessons were really great.  
  
The nuns on the other hand are very strict! Mass everyday too. What a bore.  
  
So I have a couple of friends, Celeste and Melissa. They are both from Atlanta and are fun to be with. They have known each other since they were babies because their parents are close friends.  
  
I wish I could invite them here for a summer, but I don't think that I should. No one at school knows that my family are wizards and witches, and being Catholic I don't think that Celeste and Missy would understand at all.  
  
Saturday afternoon.  
  
Well they are here and Antony has gotten so tall! He actually picked me up when he saw me and gave me the biggest hug! I missed him so much!  
  
Of course, Severus was with him and he's gotten taller too. He sort of smiled at me and took my hand to shake it when I offered it. I think that he is really shy because he shook my hand quickly and then pulled it away- almost like he was afraid to touch me. His cheeks got a little pink too.  
  
That was last night, today Antony is being a pest. And Pierre is here too. He's still a pest and I don't understand why Gina wants to marry him. Yuk. I wish that Antony and Severus would leave and go and do something, but they are here in the library with me, playing chess and talking. I can't read when they are talking. Severus has this voice that is distracting and Antony pesters me when I do start to read. I'm surprised that he is not pestering me now, but I think that Severus got him to play chess on purpose so I could write here. That's kind of nice.  
  
Mom told me this morning that I have to take music again this year, and I told her that I was taking guitar at school so could I please not have to study this summer. Of course I have to study music, she said, so the guitar lessons begin on Monday morning. At least I don't have to take piano like Gina!  
  
I knew it was too good to be true, here comes Antony. I think Severus beat him because he looks all devilish!  
  
Saturday evening  
  
Severus did win! But Antony wasn't too upset! And this afternoon was really great! Antony and Severus and I went to the French Quarter and just roamed around. I asked Antony why I was invited and he said that school was making me tolerable. That I didn't seem like I was going to be too much of a corvee this year.  
  
Severus is really nice. He bought me an ice cream and we stopped and had our palms read. She wasn't a real gypsy, just a tourist attraction and I am sure Severus knew too, but all the same.  
  
It was fun. I am so tired.  
  
Thursday night  
  
It's been three weeks already since I came home and I want to go back to school! I hate it here sometimes!  
  
Antony was so mean to me and my guitar teacher was too. The worst was this afternoon. I went visiting with mom. I hate visiting with mom, it's so boring!  
  
We went to Mrs. McIlhenny's, and her daughters were there. They are bitches, both of them. Oh they were nice to my face after all my family is, well, powerful and rich. But I sent to play and the girls were so mean to me.  
  
Of course I didn't cry in front of them. I didn't tell my mom either. I don't want people to like me because of my name! I don't want daddy to worry about me and I don't want him getting upset about the names I am called. I think he feels guilty about me.  
  
But today I was so close to telling daddy what they called me. Sometimes I pretend that I tell Daddy about all of the mean things that my supposed friends tell me, and then watch as he avenges me with his magic. It makes me smile.  
  
Sometimes I pretend that I have the same magic that the rest of my family has, it is discovered accidentally when I save Gina's life from the veil clutches of Pierre The Pest. Daddy throws a big party for me, and all of the mean girls started trying to be nice to me and I tell each of them to go jump off of the Mississippi River Bridge.  
  
That one makes me smile more. But it's just a daydream, all of it. It will never happen.  
  
It's not my fault I'm a squib. I wish I weren't. I wish I could do magic like my sisters and Antony and Severus.  
  
Severus found me in the garden, at my favorite bench, crying. He asked me what was wrong. I didn't want to tell him, but I felt like I had no choice. It was like he was in my head.  
  
I don't remember telling him much, but he was all of a sudden blasting roses with his wand. He looked mad. Then he turned to me and conjured a chocolate milk shake. Best I've ever had. Then he sat next to me and we just sat there and said nothing. It was nice.  
  
Then Helga called us in for supper and it was over. I had to pretend to be happy.  
  
I don't remember what we ate.  
  
After dinner I took a bath and spent the rest of the evening in the library reading.  
  
I wish the summer was over.  
  
I wish I was back at school.  
  
Friday Night  
  
He is so mean! I hate him! I wish Antony would have never brought Severus Snape here! And after he was so nice to me yesterday! Today he was a complete meany!  
  
He is such a cheater! I beat him fair and square in Chess but he cheated! Then he had the nerve to growl at me when I called him on it! So I hit him. Right across the face too. It felt good. Well it did when I did it, then about a half a second later I was scared. He got so mad looking.  
  
His face got all flat looking and I swear his ears folded back against his head, but it was his eyes that really scared me. They were so narrow and so black and shiny-I could feel the anger in them. He looked like a monster.  
  
Then he called me a Squib and said that if I ever laid a hand on him again he'd hex me.  
  
I ran away. I am locked in my room. Daddy and mommy think that I am not feeling good so they sent Midge to sit with me. She's my favorite house elf and if Severus tries to kill me tonight, she won't let him.  
  
Midge will protect me.  
  
Thursday Afternoon  
  
I am so grossed out! How could he! Antony was kissing that Celeste bitch! On the lips too-gross! Severus saw me watching and he laughed at me! Ok so maybe I looked grossed out. I was.  
  
How could he kiss that thing?  
  
I hate boys! Why was Severus laughing at me? I don't understand it. I don't know why I care. Severus hasn't said anymore than has to. He is still mad at me for hitting him I think, I apologized the next morning but I don't think that he has forgiven me.  
  
If he wants to keep sulking about it after three weeks then fine. Besides, he wouldn't even admit that he cheated.  
  
I hate boys!  
  
Sunday night  
  
School starts back up this Wednesday and I can't wait. This summer has been the weirdest summer ever!  
  
Mom made me take those awful guitar lessons. My instructor is nothing like Sister Agnes, who is so cool! She knows lots of songs besides the church songs I have to learn to play there and she says that she likes Genesis and thinks that Peter Gabriel is a great songwriter. I'm not sure that Mother Anne would be happy about Sister Agnes liking a "rock band" so I haven't said anything to anyone. As much as the sisters at school scold us about gossiping, we do. We are just very very careful about where we gossip!  
  
Well, my teacher here is so hooked on the classics and looks down his nose at pop music. I'm not stupid but he treats me like I am and I am glad to be rid of him.  
  
I turned ten in June and got taken to dinner at Arnauds, which was very nice. Mom got me a new dress just for the occasion and Gina was nice to me. Severus had to come, naturally since we couldn't leave him home. I asked mom if he had to come and she looked at me with this odd expression and said "Why Mia, how rude!"  
  
Well jeez! He's so gloomy all the time, and I don't think it's because I hit him. He barely even looks at me and he and Antony spent a lot of time away from home for the rest of the summer. Which was fine by me.  
  
But tonight was the weirdest! Well sad really. After supper I went to the garden to get a book I had left there and I found him on my bench crying. I mean really crying. Like I was the afternoon he found me there crying.  
  
I didn't go to him though. I thought about it but then decided that he wouldn't like it if I saw him like that. I snuck away instead.  
  
I wonder why he was crying? Is he sad to leave here? I've overheard mom and daddy talking about how awful his parents are and this year we bought him new clothes again, mom used the same nice ways that she did last year and daddy said that mom was the cleverest witch! Then he kissed her- I think. It got all quiet and mom giggled. Anyway, he's got new robes and things like Antony. He looks better than he did when he got here too, he's so skinny!  
  
I wonder if he gets teased at school, although I don't know why he would. Antony says that Severus is the cleverest wizard Hogwarts had seen in a long time. He was talking about some boys in an opposing house being a bunch of bastards (mom threatened to put Tabasco in his mouth). They were always making Severus look bad Antony says. Maybe that's why.  
  
But he's in Slytherin, which Antony says is the best House at Hogwarts. I don't remember much else-Antony is so boring when he talks about school and I think about other things. I mean it's easier and besides I have no abilities so what do I care about some stupid house rivalry.  
  
Except its made Severus cry. I don't know why that bothers me so much. 


	4. Chapter Four

Of Squibs and Wizards  
Chapter Four  
  
I shouldn't stay here.  
  
It's only been a week and I am already feeling things that I have forbidden myself to feel for so long. So very long.  
  
Of course, re-reading my journals from those summers haven't helped me any, but I found them when I was unpacking and I just couldn't help myself. I am too sentimental sometimes. It is my curse.  
  
Or perhaps it is the wine. Albus keeps such a fine stock of it in his cellar and he gifted me with several bottles of his finest as a thank you for the cognac I suppose. At any rate, I am maudlin this evening. I hate being maudlin, I drink more wine when I'm maudlin, which makes me more maudlin, which makes me drink more wine.  
  
I shall have a terrible headache tomorrow.  
  
Why am I here? Of course, to please daddy. I am thirty-seven years old and I am still trying to please daddy. Not that my choices over the last fifteen years or so have been good ones in his eyes. Especially the two years I played with Lestat, he wasn't very pleased about that time, I could tell. Mother must have cajoled him into silence, for he said nothing to me that night back stage.  
  
Gina thought that the leather get up I was dressed in was cool, so that's something I suppose. I do have to admit that I did look rather fetching! The boys in the audience lusted after me I am sure and my ego was fed exceedingly well. The tarnish wore off eventually, as it always does.  
  
I have meandered, thanks to the merlot. I was writing about feeling things that I have forbidden myself to feel. Thinking of things that are best left buried in the deep recesses of my mind.  
  
Severus Snape.  
  
The bane of my existence.  
  
My first love.  
  
My first lover.  
  
His too, I think. No. I know it.  
  
He kissed me well, left me breathless and throbbing. I remember his hands stroking me. At the time they seemed sure, now I can see them for what they were. Shaking, not from desire but from nervousness. He was so awkward! At the time he seemed like he was so in control. Now I know that it was just the raging hormones of a sixteen year-old virgin Catholic school girl.  
  
And it hurt damn it all! He apologized to me as my virgin's blood ran down my body and he caressed my face with those fingers of his. I can still feel the little kisses he rained on my face as the storm outside raged overhead. I still remember him telling me that he loved me as he climaxed and slid out of me. I felt like I had found paradise curled up in his arms.  
  
I was so naive. So young.  
  
The memories are still bittersweet.  
  
That was the last truly happy summer of my life. I imagine it was his last too. But then he made the choices he made, my family and I were merely casualties.  
  
I need more wine.  
  
Severus Snape patrolled the dark halls, as was his custom every night. There were no students in the summer term, but he walked the same route he walked every night. Sleep would not come to him otherwise. Sleep tonight would be aided by a potion. Again. He had taken the potion every night since her first night there.  
  
Mia Antonia Marvolo. The dark haired beauty if his youth, the pest, the shadow, the first woman he had ever loved. The only woman he had ever loved.  
  
He hated her for it. As much as she hated him for even existing. Because of Antony. Because of her father and mother. Because she had given herself to him and he to her.  
  
Pausing at his favorite alcove, he ducked in and leaned against the wall. From here he had an outstanding vantage point on the whole of the corridor, and here he would hide during term. It was a storehouse of point deduction opportunities.  
  
Tonight it was merely a quiet place to gather one's wits. She, damn her to Hades, could still make him tremble, at the mere thought of her.  
  
He, if he were being honest with himself, knew that he had no cause for complaint. Not really, for her family had done nothing but-love him. He shuddered at that word.  
  
It had frightened him, repulsed him. Yet he envied Antony for his family while at the same time his feelings, his pride was injured by the kind gestures of Mrs. Marvolo.  
  
He hadn't realized that the new robes and clothing he was heaped with during his summers were a gesture of pity until his sixth year. They had all colluded to make him look foolish. They had only taken him in out of a misguided sense of charity or pity. Severus neither knew nor cared which it was, the mere fact that he was the object of such was shameful to him.  
  
It had also been an awakening of sorts. He was a Snape. His father and mother were of the purest blood. They were neglectful and abusive but they were his parents. They were not to be disrespected by this American lot. Fools with their pity, their mixing of Muggle and Wizard blood, their piety.  
  
Mia had been the freshest thing in his life that year, now he regarded her giving of her self as a mere mercy fuck.  
  
Well, he did at the time. Despite the fact that he knew that Mr. Marvolo would have hexed his privates off had he known about that afternoon at the hunting camp.  
  
This didn't stop him from saying the most hateful things he could think of when he confronted her later that summer. Antony had somehow found out about them and the confrontation was fiery. A challenge to a duel was issued by the offended brother. Angry words exchanged, Marvolo Senior's intentions screamed at him in anger and indignation.  
  
They had wanted to adopt him.  
  
He joined The Death Eaters as soon as he returned to Hogwarts.  
  
Dawn crept through the gaps in Mia's curtains, a single ray of light shining on her closed eyes. She winced against the sudden brightness that invaded the inside of her lids.  
  
The hangover from a good merlot wasn't as awful as a hangover from a bad merlot, but it was still a hangover.  
  
"Damn!" she whispered, tumbling from her bed. She yawned cautiously, wincing at the stabbing in her skull, and then made her way to the bathroom. After downing three ibuprophen (she'd be damned before she went to Snape for Hangover Relief) she stepped in to her shower and luxuriated in the hot, streaming water.  
  
Last night's pity party was fresh in her mind, and she winced again at the thought of her maudlin behavior. Perhaps she should burn that particular page of her journal and forget that the incident even happened.  
  
"Don't be stupid, Mia" she chastised herself. Grabbing her shower gel and poof sponge she set to work at expelling the remainders of the prior evening.  
  
Soon she stood before her mirror, critically examining her reflection and liking what she saw. Her skin glowed from the scrubbing she had given herself and her eyes looked a little less glassy. Not as clear as she would like, but nothing that a bit of properly applied make up couldn't conceal.  
  
"Wouldn't do to have him see you like this, Mia," she muttered as she got to the serious work of putting on her face.  
  
"Maybe I can skip breakfast," she mused to herself.  
  
"Well that wouldn't be wise dear. You look as if you could do with a good meal or two," her mirror answered.  
  
God she hated enchanted mirrors! "Shut up you piece of glass. When I want your opinion I will ask for it!" she snapped.  
  
"Humph!" it answered. "Well I took this kind of talk from Professor Snape till he saw fit to move me. I never expected to have another rude, skinny –"  
  
"You were Snape's mirror!" she hissed, cutting off the looking glasses rant. "Well that won't do. I shall have Dumbledore move you immediately!"  
  
What nerve! Giving her HIS mirror. His discarded one at that! The thought made her nauseous. Eggs and fried tomatoes weren't so appealing to her any more.  
  
She wondered if there was a Taco Bell in the area.  
  
Thirty minutes later found her walking into the Staff Dining Room, where the smells of a hearty British breakfast assailed her nostrils and caused her stomach to turn somersaults. The ibuprophen had dulled the ache in her head, but had not gotten rid of it completely. The damn mirror hadn't helped either.  
  
"Good morning, Mia," Albus said when he saw her approach. "Come sit next to me."  
  
She sat in the offered chair and forced a polite smile on her face. "Good morning Albus."  
  
"You look all done in this morning, Mia. Enjoyed the merlot?" Albus said giving her a fond look.  
  
She had the grace to look abashed. "Well, I did rather imbibe a bit too much of it. It snuck up on me. You are such a sneak!"  
  
"You never had a head for wine," he replied good naturedly.  
  
"Yet you gifted me with a case of the stuff," she growled.  
  
"Yes, well. Have some eggs and sausage," he said removing the cover of the platter with a flourish. The distinctive odor of fried eggs and sausage assailed her already tender senses causing her to turn a rather delicate shade of green. "Yes, well perhaps just the eggs and maybe some toast."  
  
"My dear Miss Marvolo!" exclaimed Minerva McGonagall upon seeing her expression. "Perhaps you should see Severus about a relief potion. You look positively ill!"  
  
Upon hearing his name, his ears perked up. Glancing at the woman he had been ignoring since she walked into the room, he saw that she was looking rather peaked. Arching a brow he said, "Imbibed a bit much last night, Miss Marvolo?"  
  
She nibbled delicately on a triangle of buttered toast and ignored him.  
  
Cheeky little chit. Fine then.  
  
"Severus, perhaps you have a nice hangover relief potion somewhere?" Albus asked in a hinting tone. He'd be damned if he'd offer it to her.  
  
"Sorry. All out I'm afraid," he answered in what for him was a cheerful tone. "Perhaps someone should warn Miss Marvolo about the dangers of drinking alone."  
  
The eyes of every soul at the table flew to him and stared in disbelief. Hermione Granger narrowed hers and clucked her tongue in a very McGonagall like manner and muttered "rude prat."  
  
"Watch your tongue, Miss Granger," he hissed as he pushed himself away from the table and then strode from the room.  
  
Unable to stand the smell of food any longer, Mia soon followed suit and exited muttering something that sounded like "Taco Bell" to the still incensed Miss Granger. 


	5. Chapter Five

Of Squibs and Wizards

Chapter Five

Severus Snape paced the comfortable confines of his chambers, cursing silently to himself.

The presence of one Mia Marvolo bothered him more than he would dare let on to anyone, but he had the feeling, no, the certain knowledge that Albus Dumbledore knew this already. And was playing it for all it was worth. How the old codger found out about that summer was beyond him, so he chalked it up to the "Legend of Dumbledore."

The bastard seemed to know everything about everyone within his immediate hemisphere and beyond.

Of course he would have been the one to travel all the way to America to break the news to the Marvolo's that their only son, the last of the Pure Blooded line was dead at the age of nineteen. Of course he would form a friendship, indeed an apparently close relationship with that family. Mia wouldn't have told him about their relationship, he was certain and Antony was long dead. Antony Senior was unaware of the fact that his youngest daughter had given her virginity to him, or so it was agreed between the three of them on that awful day so long ago.

The fact that he was still walking the face of the Earth was testament to the fact that that particular secret was still just that.

So how did the old man know, exactly?

"And when did she grow up so?" he asked himself as he passed in front of the fireplace for the umpteenth time that morning.

The entire week had been a trial for him. In between her arrival and the constant company of the Granger pest, his apprentice, his nerves were quite raw. This was of course unacceptable.

Voldemort may be dead but there were still Death Eaters roaming the country, and they were probably looking for him.

"Did you have to be so rude to Miss Marvolo?" Albus asked.

Turning to the fireplace, Severus was unsurprised to see the head of Albus Dumbledore surrounded by green flames. He sighed rather melodramatically.

"May I come through?" Albus asked as he stepped into the room. This was par for the course with the old man. Severus didn't even bother to give his usual sarcastic remark. He wasn't in the mood.

Albus, with an air of complete serenity, settled himself into the chair he always occupied when calling on his Potions master. Severus, like he always did took a seat in the chair next to his and sighed again.

"Albus," he said. "Make your point and be gone. Miss Granger is due in a half an hour and I really would prefer the quiet before she assaults me with her incessant questions and perky Griffindor perkiness."

Albus chuckled. He was truly fond of Severus, the closest thing to a son he had. His attitude this morning only confirmed the theory he had been toying with since the night Mia had arrived.

"I'd hardly call Miss Granger perky, Severus," he replied. "And I wouldn't allow her to hear you say that either. She'd hex you."

"It would be her last act on the planet, Albus."

"Perhaps, Severus. Perhaps. I haven't come to talk about Miss Granger, however. But I do want to speak to you about Mia."

Of course. Mia. The recent bane of his existence. Though to be fair he hadn't laid eyes on the girl, no woman, other than at meals for the last week. He promptly disregarded that last thought. Severus Snape wasn't fair.

"Then get it out of your system old man and be gone!" he said harshly.

"You may be wondering why she is here," Albus said, ignoring his favorite's tone." It is not because I really needed a Muggle Studies Professor. She will make a fine one of course, but it is for her protection."

Well this was unexpected information. Severus felt reluctantly curious, and so against his better judgment he asked, "How is that?"

"When I heard from her father that she was planning on visiting the area, I had planned on inviting her to stay here for the summer," he answered. "Then Kingsley Shacklebolt relayed to me certain information that caused me great concern. You see Mia is traveling under her own name. Not that this is unusual, but given the distant relation to Tom Riddle, it caused talk amongst the ranks of suspected former Death Eaters. Lucius Malfoy in particular."

Snape gazed at the fire, crackling merrily in the fireplace as the meaning of Albus' words sink in.

"But she is a Squib," he said after a moment.

"The Marvolo blood still flows through her veins, Severus. Her being a Squib is merely a genetic defect; the blood is in essence still pure."

Oh.

The full import of Albus' fears sunk into Severus' brain leaving him stunned, then dumbfounded and then finally, angry. Would this ever end?

"Fucking Pure Blood's and their prejudices!" Severus hissed. 'Why didn't you just send her home for Merlin's sake, Albus!"

Albus looked fondly at his erstwhile son. For such a genius he could be quite dense at times. This was one of them.

"Severus," he said softly. "You know her as well as anyone, don't deny it, it's pointless and now is not the time for obsfuacation. Do you honestly think that the Mia Marvolo we both know would listen to either one of us, much less her father, should I order her home?"

Well he had a point there. Mia was the most stubborn person Severus knew, except for himself.

"Her father is aware of the situation?"

"Yes. They do keep up with what goes on over here, you know. One of the first notes of congratulations was from Antony Marvolo after Tom was defeated." Albus paused for a moment, and pondered whether or not he should go on. "He asked about you as well, Severus."

Well, perhaps asked wasn't quite the proper word for the scathing remarks he had had about Severus.

"I'm sure he did," came the sarcastic reply. "Tell me Albus, did he demand my head?"

Albus smiled, "No. But I shan't go into the details of his comments as regards you, Severus. I would not recommend that you visit the family any time soon though."

Severus shook his head as if to clear it. "We are getting off topic, Albus."

"So we are. Miss Marvolo has left the grounds. Miss Granger said that she overheard Mia saying something about a place called Taco Bell? Do you know what she is talking about?"

"Yes, it's a Muggle restaurant, if you could really call it that. The stuff they serve passes for food. You'd probably like it," he answered in a weary tone. "I suppose you want me to go and get her? Well she won't come if I show up."

Albus stood. "I will rely on your well developed powers of persuasion, Severus," he said smoothly. He walked to the fireplace and tossed in a handful of Floo powder. "Be nice, Severus."

And he was gone.

There was nothing like a crunchy taco with everything on it to settle a hung over stomach. Mia had traveled the world and done her share of partying, but she had never discovered a more suitable after party food.

Mia bit into her third taco with the same enthusiasm as she had the first and thanked God, once again, for the industrious Rosemerta.

"How's your food luv?" she asked taking a seat beside Mia.

Mia chewed quickly and smiled, "Wonderful Rosemerta. Thank you so much for going to all the trouble!"

"No trouble at all," she answered with a wave of her hand. "It's not often that I get a chance to see Muggle London. Now, " she continued "Tell me again, why don't you want Professor Snape's hangover relief?"

Mia chewed on her taco for a moment and swallowed. "He's a bastard."

Madam Rosemerta smiled, "Well that's not news around here! But his potions are rather good."

"Yes. I know they are good. He's a Potions master. It's more of a case of self pride, Rosemerta."

Rosemerta took a sip of her coffee and looked at the woman beside her with a practiced eye. 'Yes, most certainly a past there,' she thought. Aloud she asked " So do those taco things cure headaches as well as they cure a rolling stomach?"

"No, but I will run by the Apothecary when it opens." She finished off her last taco with a flourish and rose from her chair. "Thanks for opening for me Rosemerta and again for the tacos. I owe you one."

"As I said, my pleasure Miss Mia," she returned as she rose from her seat and walked her guest to the door.

Now that the nausea was taken care of, Mia felt more civil and the morning air was nice, so she settled on taking a slow stroll through the village to kill time.

Severus decided to fly to Hogsmeade. His first thought of apparating to London was quickly nixed when he realized that she couldn't apparate herself and a broom was out of the question. No. She would be in Hogsmeade seeking relief from her apparently painful hangover. Which would lead her to the Apothecary.

He allowed himself a rare smile. Be nice indeed. The spoiled little chit needed to be spanked. He had spent the prior week quietly observing her comings and goings. She had grown up, of course, in the ensuing two decades since that last summer. She now carried herself with a confidence that she hadn't had the last time he had seen her. She almost swaggered with confidence. Hermione Granger's gushing over Mia's, what did she call it, oh yes, "Rock Star" status did nothing to improve his opinion of her. Especially when he heard that she had actually been a member of a vampire band. The Vampire Lestat. Indeed.

He was no longer the bigot he once thought himself to be, but comporting with vampires was beyond the pale. They roamed the planet, killing innocent creatures to survive. He considered them to be as bad as Voldemort, and even he discouraged association with that particular group of creatures.

According to Miss Granger, however, this Lestat creature was a different sort of vampire. Sometimes Miss Granger could be very stupid, and this was apparently one of those times. Not that Mia appeared to be ashamed of her association. Quite the contrary, she downplayed it after Miss Grangers first questions, answering them enough to satisfy her and then subtly dropping the subject. It had been enough, however, to raise the ire of the Potions master.

He shivered despite the heat of the early morning and walked through the gates of the school toward the village of Hogsmeade.

Then she dressed the way she dressed, he thought. The Muggle clothing was not so out of place in this day and age, but she wore these pants that rode her hips and tops that allowed her belly to peek through if she moved in certain ways. And her hips and belly were rather nice to look at, he thought reluctantly. She was thirty-seven years old, for Merlins sake! Shouldn't she be wearing more, well modest clothing?

He landed in the main square of the village. Stalking past the various shops, ignoring the "good mornings" and "good days" of the shopkeepers along the way, he made for the Apothecary. He wanted to get the little chit, fling her over his shoulder and return to the school before Malfoy or one of his cronies spotted her and caused trouble.

He spotted her, as he expected, outside of the Apothecary, chatting with Master Adamsby as if she hadn't a care in the world. She was in those damn jeans again, all tight and clinging to her form, cupping her firm looking derriere. Master Adamsby was apparently taken with the black shirt she wore, for his eyes, Severus noticed, kept drifting from her eyes to her chest.

"Miss Marvolo!" Severus hissed.

She turned, startled at his voice. He took a moment to capture her startled expression in his memory for later enjoyment before his eyes were drawn to her chest as Master Adamsby's had been. Across her small, yet inviting looking chest were emblazoned in bright red the words "Remove Before Flight".


End file.
